PHOTO: JUAN BYRD, Assistant District Attorney in St. Charles Parish, speaks at the Dow St. Charles operations black history celebration. He spoke of local black leaders such as the late Raymond K. Smith and Bernadine Williams who, according to Byrd, “were pioneering giants in education and economic development in the parish.” TAFT – About 100 employees and community representatives attended the third annual Black History Month celebration held recently at Dow’s St. Charles Operations. The event brought in a variety of speakers and black history displays from school students throughout St. Charles Parish. The celebration was also aired live over the facility’s closed circuit television system giving an additional 600 employees the opportunity to view the program. Dow St. Charles operations site leader Mike Rio began the event by introducing Mike Parker, president and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, who spoke about the importance of Black History and diversity in the company. He said, “Diversity in all forms is a large part of Dow’s strategy. It’s important that we treat everyone fairly and with dignity, regardless of their race, nationality, religious beliefs or cultural background.” Dow PXC chemical engineer Charlotte Hicks was the first of two guest speakers on the program. Hicks is an accomplished public speaker and provided the audience with a very unique concept of the value of diversity. The keynote speaker was St. Charles Parish Assistant District Attorney Juan Byrd. He dwelt on the many contributions of African Americans from the community, “You don’t have to look very far to find a lot of great heros and leaders. Many have come from right here in St. Charles Parish.” Byrd himself was born, raised and educated in St. Charles Parish. He currently runs a law practice along with his duties as an assistant district attorney for the parish. The program also included a musical rendition from Dow employee Robert Lumar and a poetic reading from Destrehan High School student Samuel Ebeyar. Dow St. Charles operations human resources leader Pam Hollins shared mistress of ceremonies duties with area training coordinator Gaynel Alexander. Dow Public Affairs administrative assistant and Black History Committee member Joval Walker said the celebration was a result of a lot of hard work from the employee volunteer committee members. She said, “The committee members really worked hard and brought a lot of new ideas together to make this celebration a success. We use this celebration to help educate our employees about the many contributions that African Americans have made to our history, and this year we also incorporated our Partners in Education with the area schools by displaying a variety of Black History Month projects and resources from schools in our parish.” St. Charles Parish Superintendent of Schools Rodney LaFon made remarks in support of the school business partnerships and applauded Dow St. Charles operations for including the teachers and students in such a positive display of respect for diversity. Also in attendance were the principals from G.W. Carver Elementary School, Eual J. Landry Middle School and Hahnville High School. Walker said Dow’s Black History Month Celebration Committee will begin meeting again soon to see how they can make the event even bigger and better in 2002.